Links - 01/25/2024
“The value investor attempts to measure the durable earning power a business can produce over time and determines a fair or bargain price for the enterprise. There are myriad ways to skin a cat, but those in the value corner occasionally find situations where either profits can expand faster than revenues or where the price paid today represents a discount to what a reasonable investor would pay for the present value of present and future profit. In other words, where margins or multiples are low.” —Chris Bloomstran (2022 SAI Letter)
Mentors - by Ian Cassel (LINK)
The Tremendous Yet Troubled State of Gaming in 2024 - by Matthew Ball (LINK)
Data Update 3 for 2024: A Rule-breaking Year for Interest Rates - by Aswath Damodaran (LINK)
Money Maze Podcast: 125: Is Active Management Worth Paying For? With Terry Smith (LINK)
Tides of History Podcast: Confucius and His Age (LINK)
How One Tiny Insect Upended an Ecosystem (LINK)
On a conservancy of Kenya, lions are struggling to hunt zebras. An invasive insect may be to blame.
“I began with the idea that there is always a better way to do things, and that, contrary to tradition, the crew’s insights might be more profound than even the captain’s. Accordingly, we spent several months analyzing every process on the ship. I asked everyone, ‘Is there a better way to do what you do?’ Time after time, the answer was yes, and many of the answers were revelations to me.
“My second assumption was that the secret to lasting change is to implement processes that people will enjoy carrying out. To that end, I focused my leadership efforts on encouraging people not only to find better ways to do their jobs, but also to have fun as they did them. And sometimes—actually, a lot of times—I encouraged them to have fun for fun’s sake.” —Captain D. Michael Abrashoff (“It’s Your Ship”)